Clear slime in nest box

[Farmer Kitty]

One of my Blacks has had two mornings in a row clear slime. I see her in the nest box and when I come back later there is no egg but, I find a clear slime. Yesterday I thought she had broke the egg and ate it. This morning I when I saw her in there I checked and there was no egg. Twenty minutes later I checked and she was off the nest and there was some more of that clear slime. Not as much this morning as yesterday. Could she be egg bound? They are 19 weeks old and our first egg showed up at 15 weeks old. I'm not sure how long this one may have been laying or if she has layed at all. Maybe she is getting ready to start?

 

[speckledhen]

Hmm, don't know. Sounds like some of the eggwhite. Could be that she is trying to lay her first egg. One of my girls' first egg was just the contents of the egg on the ground, no membrane even. Just watch and see what happens with her and keep us posted.

 

[Matt Berry]

Her body probably hasn't fully gotten in sync with the whole laying process. Sometimes when they first start to lay you can have thin or no shell eggs, or even a multitude of other problems.

From the sound of it your chicken is laying a no shell egg, I'd clean up the mess, and just keep an eye on her. In no time she should be laying normal eggs.

Egg bound hens have a swollen abdomen and you should be able to feel the hard egg in the lower abdomen. Just be careful as not all birds showing these "signs" are truly egg bound. Catching birds in the process of laying may actually cause the egg to stop moving and then they become bound!! Be careful that you do not overly interfere with the egg laying process. Let nature take its course, as most eggs will pass on there own, if the hen seems ill or weak then it is time to take action. Other then that don't worry about it too much.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

She seems fine. I have been keeping an eye on her today and she stays with the others and ate when I feed them some scrapes. I'll keep watching her for a few days and see what happens.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I saw her in the next box this morning and a little while later found an egg!